how are men treated at your workplace?

addylpn · Nov 21, 2014

Definitely favored at my place, especially if they are good looking and working among female managers. They tend to know this and put on the charm...smh!

rnforforty · Nov 22, 2014

I heard a rumor that male nurses at my old job were paid more but it was just a rumor. I have, however, noticed that men are more inclined to get advanced degrees and move up the clinical and administrative ladder sooner. Of course, most had a wife working, usually in nursing to keep up the income and do most of the childcare. I have not seen the reverse to be so, with the exception of one female pharmacist who rapidly got her PhD while her fantastic hubby did ALL child care and home care and worked part time. They had four beautiful dumplings and he brought them in every day for lunch with mommy and then had supper ready when she got home. She is now a vice-president at a large medical center and he is still a house hubby. The only other women I've seen do the same were single. I've seen quite a few start but have to drop out because their hubby couldn't or wouldn't step up to the plate and shoulder the extra burden this sort of thing entails. Other thing I've noticed is that women, even in this still female driven profession, are not taken seriously. Most administrative people seen to think we women are only working until we're married or have kids and seem less inclined to promote them to major positions 'because they will be gone soon'. They also figure we're a liability because when there is a serious family event who is usually the one to need time off to be a caregiver? I was a department manager and was let go one day after returning from FMLA. I'm sure they figured I'd need it again because my husband is terminal and since they had refused to allow me to train someone else to do the job, things were seriously behind. I did discuss working from home via computer but they simply couldn't make a decision about it. All I needed was a laptop and network tie in. They would not have had this problem with a male as he would most likely not been the designated caregiver.

kalevra, BSN, RN · Nov 22, 2014

Nursing managers actively seek out male RNs into the units. This is of course done off the official record, no laws are broken.

Moving from one unit to the next and getting on days was very very easy. Say what you will, but I used my value to achieve my goals.

applewhitern, BSN, RN · Nov 22, 2014

Every hospital I have worked in seemed to favor male nurses. The males were promoted quickly. At my previous hospital, all but one of the charge nurses were male, regardless of experience or education. I have witnessed male nurses ask for, and receive, just about any position they wanted. We even have one who has one year of experience, yet is now our superior. This is the south, so maybe it is different here. Years ago, before I was a nurse, I held the same position as a male co-worker, yet made $100 per week less pay. This was in the 80's, and the laws didn't really protect us well back then. When I found this out, I was told, "Well he has a wife and kids to support." Nevermind that we did the same exact job!

ArtClassRN, ADN, RN · Nov 23, 2014

Are you aware if they get paid more than their female counterparts, or get any kind of special treatment? I also heard that male nurses are sought after and sometimes it is easier to get hired or accepted into a nursing school since they like diversity. Do you find this to be true?

Pay at my employer increases as you work more hours, so males generally make more. Mostly due to males getting pregnant at a staggeringly lower rate.

I don't get any special treatment..but what did you have in mind?

I was accepted into and walked out of nursing school at the top of my class, no special treatment here.

rnforforty · Nov 23, 2014

I've always felt that more males in the profession could do nothing but raise it. I also don't have problems with male supervisors, DONs, etc. Been there, done that and got no use for it any more. As far as males getting promotions because they 'have families', now that really ticks me off. Throughout my 40+ years of nursing at least 90% of the nurses I've worked with have been SOLE supports for families whose spouses have run for the hills leaving no child support behind. One friend of mine raised her two girls completely on her own. She figured one time he owed her at least $300,000 or more in unpaid child support. Not one of us were there for the 'joy of the job' but because we were in survival mode. I used to have a sign in my office: Why I work - I like to eat. And in this day and age of the two income family it is still true. No, promotions go to the most qualified, man or woman, but not because 'he has a family'. Had their qualifications been equal, then seniority would have been the deciding factor. If that meant he got the job, I could live with that. But 'the family' bit, no. I have a family also! Had I been told that a grievance would have been filed, labor board notified, and lawyer contacted.

ANnot4me · Nov 24, 2014

Wow! I have been a male all my life and for my whole nursing career. I never knew that my gender held such benefits. Where do I get one of these great jobs?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 26, 2014

Wow! I have been a male all my life and for my whole nursing career. I never knew that my gender held such benefits. Where do I get one of these great jobs?

In the United States of America... :)

You are in New Zealand according to your profile.

SmilingBluEyes · Nov 27, 2014

There is a male nurse where I work who is pretty much treated like a prince. He is indifferent to the point of being mean to patients. He does not do his job much of the time and no matter how many times I or others have asked him to do certain things that ARE his job, he picks and chooses what he does and leaves the rest for others to do.

When you talk to him, if he does not like what you say, he rolls his eyes, crosses his arms and looks the other way, like a petulant child. He also displays similar negative body language to patients.I have politely *YES* politely, pointed this out to him but he does not change how he communicates with the patients, standing over them (they are seated in chairs) and crossing his arms and looking bored when they bring up concerns with him. I think all that is pretty unacceptable and I know the rest of us would never get away with it. We are corrected pretty regularly if/when we do something wrong, and quickly. Not he.

Yet, when you bring any of this up to the manager, his response is always "he is a new nurse, give him a break." He's not that new, been a nurse at least 2 years. He has had patient complaints, and coworker complaints, too, that he is unhelpful and indifferent to them. There is another male nurse who is just the opposite, always helpful and kind and I love him to pieces. He does not need preferential treatment; he is so caring and good at what he does, there is no need.

I just do not get why this one nurse is "protected" so much. He is one of the laziest I have worked with in nearly 20 years nursing. His attitude has sucked since day ONE. And I have tried to tell the manager that many times, to deaf ears, so I quit trying.

I know this is NOT all male nurses, so don't get on me for that, please. I have worked with some, and been cared for by others, who were OUTSTANDING and some of the best nurses I ever encountered. I am just talking about my workplace.

Further, I don't know if it is cause he is male, but I do know I am quite tired of it.

Magelan · Nov 28, 2014

You have lazy nurses both among males and females... Unfortunately every facility where I worked had that "kind"... DONs/Managers in some places have their "favorites" and you can do nothing to change that. The only thing I could do at one point when the other male coworker was passing a lot of stuff on me was to ask my DON to put me to some other team where I did not have to have to deal with him. Eventually, the other nurse (this time a female) complained about the same thing to the DON... But the guy had a "back" - his gf held a position in the upper nursing management so we could do nothing but ask to stay away from being assigned to the team that he was having on a permanent basis...